“You will inherit it all as my only disciple anyway. Why are you looking for some scraps like a beggar?” Old man Ji rebuked Zhi Fen.
“I can’t just trust your words and not prepare for my future, can I? What if a kid turns up claiming to be your bastard? What if you take in someone else as your second disciple? You even keep reminding me that I am not a direct disciple yet. I am just looking out for myself.” Zhi Fen didn’t back down.
It sounded like joking banter but there was some truth to it. Zhi Fen didn’t want to put all his eggs in one basket. Doing that was a surefire way to go back to the way he lived in the past.
“Haah. Alright, what do you want? You should know that I don’t have a lot of money so be reasonable.” Old Man Ji gave in to his disciple. He was somewhat aware of Zhi Fen’s feelings and understood him.
“How about handing over 10% of the profits earned for the next 2 years after implementing my advice? You won’t lose anything with this, and I will work hard to increase my cut.” Zhi Fen suggested.
He was willing to go down up to six months of profits after negotiating but Old Man Ji just nodded, “Alright. I agree with those terms. Now tell me, what is your brilliant strategy?”
It was an unexpected answer. Zhi Fen’s mind paused for a second. No matter if he was the disciple, he expected the old man to be skeptical and even haggle a little but he readily agreed. “Uh, that is… I will need some time to do market research. I will have to go visit our competitors at first.”
The old man clicked his tongue in disappointment, “Tsk, after acting like Zhuge Liang himself now you tell me that you need more time? And he even wants a fee like that.”
“It’s the art war, master. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you don’t have to fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
Old Man Ji’s eyes shone a little when Zhi Fen quoted The Art of War. “You have read Sun Tzu’s Art of War?” Zhi Fen nodded and the old man happily continued, “Okay, tomorrow I will take you around to the famous inns around the commercial district today. First, let’s introduce you to the staff today.”
The two went out to the dining area on the first floor. All five of the staff were gathered and the old man began the introductions, “This is Zhi Fen. He will be working at the inn from now on as the head waiter. Although he looks young, he has been working at another place for over 5 years, keep that in mind.”
‘Oh? Being a head waiter isn’t too bad. It is much better than what I expected.’
“Hello! I am Zhi Fen. I hope we can all work together for the Eclipse Inn. Please be considerate of my young age if I make any mistakes.” Zhi Fen lightly bowed and greeted with a joking tone. Everyone except Manager Shu smiled lightly at the greeting.
“You already met Manager Shu. These two are twin brothers Mu Li and Mu Xiu, they are the cooks. I can’t tell them apart though.” Old Man Ji introduced a pair of twin brothers who seemed to be in their late 30s. They surprisingly looked more like bandits than cooks with their muscular bodies and thick beards. For people with such a scary appearance, their smile was very innocent.
“Hello! You are now a part of the family. Let’s get along well.” The twins greeted Zhi Fen warmly.
“And lastly, these two are the waiters. This is Sun Tao.” He pointed at the thin average-looking young man in his 20s. He didn’t have any distinguishing features. “And this is Xu Bin. These two will work under you.”
Xu Bin was a short guy with a birthmark shaped like Pikachu on his right temple. He seemed to be a teenager. The waiters just bowed and said hello to Zhi Fen.
Although they didn’t show it, Zhi Fen could feel the hostility radiating from the two waiters. It was understandable since a young guy had just appeared and become their superior. But since the owner seemed to be treating Zhi Fen specially, they didn’t dare to make it an issue.
“Now that the introductions are done, you can all return to work. Zhi Fen will begin work after a few days.” Old Man Ji ordered.
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That evening, Zhi Fen had dinner prepared by the twin cooks with Old Man Ji. It was a simple meal of rice, braised chicken, and stir-fried vegetables. It was fairly delicious but Zhi Fen was forced to eat a ton of chicken and vegetables.
He went to sleep in a small, simple room with just a closet and a bed. It was to be his permanent residence at the inn from now on.
…..
The accumulated fatigue from the long travel and the heavy meal from the previous dinner made Zhi Fen sleep till late in the afternoon. When he got up and washed himself, Old Man Ji dragged him out to go look around the inns nearby.
The commercial district was a colorful place with large two to three-story buildings standing in a row on both sides of the wide streets. Many of them were richly decorated and looked luxurious even from the outside. Young men were standing outside these buildings and soliciting affluent-looking people to try out their stores, restaurants, or inns.
‘These are the salesmen of the ancient times. It is an effective way to drive business. Wow, there are even some girls luring the customers. Our inn doesn’t even have that.’
The salesmen were also trying to talk to the two of them but Old Man Ji waved his hands with a stern expression to send them away. While the buildings were a place for the rich, it was only a small part of the larger market.
A larger number of people were buying and selling goods on the streets, making the streets crowded and lively. Street hawkers were selling all kinds of goods like street foods, fruits, vegetables, herbs, medicine, clothes, pottery, tools, and more. It was the market for the poor.
Old Man Ji explained as they walked, “This area is the largest commercial district in Hankou City. Since it is close to the port, it is always very crowded and lively with a lot of people coming and going. There are also a lot of people who rest here while traveling through the waterway.
There are hundreds of inns around Hankou but 4 of the 10 largest and most famous inns in Hubei are on the same commercial district as our inn. We will visit those four today.”
The three largest cities in Hubei were Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang. Wuchang and Hankou were especially the most significant cities as they were inland port cities with a lot of the goods going in and out of central China passing through them. Wuchang was also the capital of Hubei so the six remaining largest inns were located there.
While Old Man Ji gave basic geographic lessons to Zhi Fen, they arrived at their first destination. It was a large two-story inn made of bricks and timber. He wasn’t knowledgeable about wood but the exterior looked expensive. The reliefs carved on the wood gave the inn an artistic and historic feel.
‘Why is our inn so plain to look at though? Was it the style when the Eclipse Inn was first constructed?’
When Zhi Fen compared the aptly named ‘Red Dragon Inn’ with its red pillars and beams carved with dragon reliefs and the Eclipse Inn, their inn seemed even shabbier.
A waiter noticed the two of them and approached them warmly. “Welcome, guests. How can I help you? You don’t seem like guests looking for lodgings, shall we head to the dining area directly?”
Like a proper salesman, the waiter observed the old man and the young boy and accurately guessed their needs. He then led them to the spacious dining area which was very busy.
“It looks like there are only a couple of tables free at the corner there. Is that okay with you? Or do you want to reserve a table on the second floor? We should also have two empty private rooms up there.”
The tables on the second floor would cost extra money of about a silver coin to reserve and a private room would cost more than double that to reserve based on the demand at the time.
The interior on the first floor looked elegant but very simple. There were just some paintings on the walls, ribbon decorations, and lanterns. The tables and chairs were made of ordinary wood but had a stylish design compared to normal chairs.
While Zhi Fen was observing the interior, Old Man Ji asked him, “What do you want to do? Do you want to go to the second floor?”
Although it would cost a silver coin, which would be enough to feed a family of four for a week, Zhi Fen nodded without hesitation. “We should check it out.” The old man nodded and turned to the waiter.
The observant waiter guided the two guests to the second floor through the stairs at the side. The atmosphere on the second floor was completely different. There was less space but the tables were further apart. There were better decorations and paintings. And everything looked more expensive.
The waiter sat the two of them by the window and took their orders. The old man turned to Zhi Fen who just said, “Bring three of your best dishes.” The waiter quickly went away while Zhi Fen silently looked around the second floor.
The service was quick and the food was brought up within 15 minutes. The three dishes were rice noodles with braised meat broth, soup dumplings, and pork ribs. It was a very delicious meal, especially since Zhi Fen hadn’t eaten anything since dinner yesterday.
But the cost of the meal was quite expensive totaling another silver coin or so. This was the premium for eating at a famous place. The same dishes in a normal place would’ve cost them less than half the price.
After they came out of the Red Dragon Inn, Old Man Ji asked curiously, “So, what did you think?”
“It was a good place. The service was good, the waiter was welcoming but not annoying, and the food was good. It was good but I didn’t think the price was justified.” Zhi Fen gave a professional review.
The old man didn’t say anything about the review and just nodded while humming. “Okay, let’s go to the next location.”